An impossible dream come true

Complete payroll service regionalization! This was the big news we received lately from DepEd. Starting June 01, 2006, the report said, teachers from all over the country have been drawing their paychecks from their own regional offices!

An impossible dream come true!, remarked a Cebu teacher. Teachers' liberation - this certainly is, chimed another. But how did this big event come about? Who was the God-given catalyst of this monumental gift to half-a-million teachers?

The catalyst was no other than the former congressman of the first district of Cebu - Jose R. Gullas. It was his HB 2542 entitled "An Act Providing for the Regionalization of the Department of Education Payroll Service Division and Providing Funds Therefor" which started the ball rolling. It was his persistent advocacy and negotiations with Manila decision-makers - including those in Malacañang - which finally brought about this historic happening for teachers.

For 20 years during which we served DepEd at the management level, the nagging problem of an inaccessible payroll office surfaced from time to time. The many operational problems relative to teachers' salaries - delayed payment (for new teachers), wrong computations, over-deductions, unimplemented deductions, and worse, illegal or unauthorized deductions, non-remittance of refunds - these were from year to year brought to the attention of top leadership during our meetings. But nothing came out of these complaints. There were sympathetic ears, to be sure, but no concrete actions were taken.

In 1992, the late Secretary Isidro Cariño started the move. Funds were set aside and a number of regions did set up the initial mechanisms towards a regionalized payroll management. But the Secretary met stiff oppositions from many sectors such that after two years only six regional offices were able to implement the project - and only involving the payroll of high school teachers! Perhaps, had Secretary Cariño got reappointed during the Ramos administration, the decentralization project could have been pursued to completion. But he exited in 1994. And so the teachers continued to suffer what they had suffered for 60 long years! And these were their sufferings.

Newly-hired teachers would get their pay checks between six months to one year or even more. Those who went on leave without pay would also endure months of unpaid services. As a result, these teachers were forced to incur loans at exorbitant interest rates, thereby depleting their meager take home pay.

Salary adjustments too proved to be a painful experience to many teachers. Whenever a teacher got promoted in rank or in position she was entitled to a salary increase. If she finished a post-graduate course, her pay was also adjusted. These were of course happy developments. The trouble was that the Manila payroll office sometimes had the tendency of messing up with numbers. Thus many teachers received less salary increment than what they deserved. O yes, there were some whose increases were higher than the legal rate. But when these were discovered years later, the teachers were slapped huge reduction in their benefits.

Deductions for GSIS retirement and insurance premiums were regular items in the payroll. For Pag-Ibig funds as well as amortizations for salary loans with government and non-government lending institutions amounts were also taken from teachers' salaries. Again, mistakes sometimes happened resulting in either excessive or lower deductions. Either way, the teacher suffered. If deductions were excessive, she got of course a lower amount than what was due her. If under-deductions happened she had to pay a penalty. (To be continued)

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